Surgical orthotopic implantation allows high lung and lymph node metastatic expression of human prostate carcinoma cell line PC-3 in nude mice

Abstract

BACKGROUND Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of male death in the United States. When diagnosed, nearly half the cases have metastatic lesions. An animal model of human prostate cancer demonstrating spontaneous metastasis from the orthotopic site after tumor implantation should be of great help for us to understand the disease and to formulate treatment strategy. We report here a high metastatic model of human prostate cancer PC‐3. METHODS We developed microsurgical techniques, termed surgical orthotopic implantation (SOI), to implant histologically intact tumor tissues orthotopically in immunodeficient mice. In this study intact tissue of the human prostate cancer cell line PC‐3, harvested from a subcutaneous tumor in a nude mouse, was implanted to the ventral lateral lobes of the prostate gland in a series of nude mice. Mice were sacrificed when found moribund, and autopsy and histology were performed subsequently. RESULTS A high frequency of lymph node and lung metastasis was noted upon histological examination. The extensive and widespread lung metastasis following orthotopic implantation of PC‐3 is, to the best of our knowledge, the first report in the literature. CONCLUSIONS In contrast to orthotopic injection of cell suspensions, no multiple metastatic cell selection was necessary after SOI for significant expression of the metastatic potential of PC‐3. We conclude that the stromal tissue architecture maintained in the implanted tumor played a critical role in tumor growth and progression. Prostate 34:169–174, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Structure and Function of a Prostate Cancer Dissemination–Permissive Extracellular Matrix

“…Intact tumor tissue obtained from subcutaneous tumors was then used for both orthotopic and subcutaneous implantations. For orthotopic implantation, we used a microsurgical method that avoids disseminating cancer cells during inoculation in the prostate (17). A piece of viable tumor tissue of approximately 1 mm 3 was implanted in the prostate of anesthetized SCID male mice by suturing it into the lobes of the gland under a surgical microscope.…”

In vitro and in vivo model systems used in prostate cancer research

“…Additionally, this work was expanded by An and colleagues to show a high degree of lung and lymph node metastasis, the first such demonstration published in the literature [97]. The obvious advantages of this model include the relevance of the interactions between the implanted tissue and the organ of origin, as bolstered by the evidence that metastatic potential is increased not only in orthotopically implanted prostatic tissue but also other organs as well [98]. The take rate for this procedure is in a much more favorable, reported at nearly 72% [96].…”

Noninvasive Multiparametric Imaging of Metastasis-Permissive Microenvironments in a Human Prostate Cancer Xenograft

“…In this method, described by An et al . (12), intact tumor tissue is implanted in the prostate by suturing it into the lobes of the gland. By implanting tissues rather than injecting cells, the stromal tissue and the three dimensional cytoarchitecture, believed to play a critical role in tumor progression and metastasis, are initially maintained (12).…”